I was lucky to have Nate Loyal fit me to my Raleigh and Scott bike yesterday. I've posted a video of Nate demonstrating proper pedaling technique on the ROAD Magazine site. You can also check out Nate and his coaching services at nateloyal.com.
My dad back in the day
My parents are just hours away from arriving and I’m wondering if I should call Interpol on them.
My dad called as I was driving to the Turkey Trot cyclocross race this past Sunday. After he told me about what flight they were on and arrival time he then tells me that the last issue of ROAD he has received is the one that I look fat in my Standpoint column. Before I can draw in a breath to defend myself with, “I’m not fat! That’s just a bad photo of me!” my mother quickly got on the phone for damage control. “You look fine. You need to gain weight.” I can imagine my dad rolling his eyes in disapproval. Luckily, intensive sessions with my personal therapist to the cycling stars, Noel, has helped me work past my resentment and the desire to alert the authorities to my parents presence. That said I do look forward to seeing my parents and if my dad has any unusual, odd, or amusing stories of racing in the good old days I will post them.
I raced twice Sunday and was fifth I my first race and 13th in the second. My legs seem to have come around somewhat. But what I really enjoy about ‘cross is eating the free hot dogs that are now being offered at the races I’ve attended. I think promoters should go Euro style and serve waffles, but I digress. The other aspect of cross I enjoy is being able to harass my friends when they are racing. To do this affectively you must find a spot where they will be going slow enough so they will certainly hear you. Another tip is, if possible, pick a spot where the racers will pass you twice in the same lap. The reason being is that you can hurl good natured barbs twice on the same lap. That’s twice the fun!
Luckily such a spot existed at Sunday’s race. I posted up at the sand pit which allowed me to yell at friends as they tried to navigate the most treacherous section of the course. From there the racers snaked out of view. A few hundred meters and the course turned back on itself and the racers came charging back at me allowing me to yell again. One buddy was determined to finish last, so he purposely soft pedaled around the course. I had no other option but to blast him with scud missiles of insult. Another friend was wearing a Bicycling Magazine jersey. Needless to say he was abused mercilessly. Between yelling at friends I spoke to Tony Cruz’s wife about the option of installing a hot-tub in the backyard. I think I have her convinced that having a hot-tub would be a good thing. Ultimately my master plan is to utilize the hot-tub for my own means; I just need to get the Cruzs on board with this idea.
This is how cardiologists get rich. Top image is double cheese burger; below chili cheese fries with everything. Heartburn and an overwhelming sense of guilt is free.
For whatever reason, this Production Week was brutal. Production Week is magazine speak for putting the text and photos together and creating ROAD Magazine. Actually for me there isn’t a lot of work to be done. It mostly falls on Tim’s lap because he is the one laying out the magazine. I’m more there for support and filling in any gaps that may arise. And most of the time Production Week goes smoothly. But because we had a big gap between this issue and last, we both kinda slacked on working. It caught up with us. Last night we were in the office till
After two weeks of traveling and not riding I decided the best thing for me to do would race cyclocross. I figured a little bit of pain and suffering is good for the soul. I registered for the race and lo and behold who is parked behind me – none other than Ned Overend! WTF? Ned’s a cool guy with some serious road and cyclocross cred. I interviewed him last year and I’ll see if we can post that on the ROAD website. He was down in SoCal showing off the new Specialized dual suspension bike to some of the mountain bike magazines and figured racing would be a great way to get in a workout. While I was getting my Scott ‘cross bike prepped, Ned was going to race on a front suspension mountain bike. Luckily for Ned several portions of the course lent itself to a mountain bike. He was racing after me and as I left he was in third place on the course. With a crash and a lack of riding I finished seventh and I think I gained a few valuable series points. Nothing like bleeding and the slight burn of lactic acid to give me clarity for the upcoming week.
The square by my hotel
It seemed funny at the time
A lot of gold at the Milan show
Bettini racing on the velodrome.
The De Rosa brothers
The bike portion of the show is smaller than the motorcycle show and significantly smaller than Interbike. However they have set up a velodrome inside the show, which I will check out later. Also this is a cool opportunity to spend more time with the companies as they are not so rushed.
The bike editors on this junket had the opportunity to visit the chapel of the Madonna del Ghisallo and the
Yeah, I'm really not sure what it is either
Today I fly to
Concerned Editor: “Are they going to be at the airport to greet us?”
Me: “I don’t know.”
Concerned Editor: “Are you bringing cycling clothes?”
Me: “Nope, I’m already bringing too much crap.”
I’ll try and blog from the show floor if they have wifi, so check back often. I’l
In the continual quest to not burnout and fade away, I'm getting reacquainted with mountain biking. Back in the day, I did have a bike that required 26 inch wheels, but due to living in a very urban area and the effort it took to actually get to dirt, I got rid of it. When the 29er craze started I asked decline Magazine's tech guy what he thought of them. He thought it might be good for what I wanted to do which means nothing too technical and just roll along. Perhaps do some marathon races. So the other day I got my new issue of WIRED Magazine. They have a snarky section that tells you what's Expired, Tired or Wired. Expired was recumbents (no kidding), Tired was fixies (to be honest those guys bug me), and Wired was 29ers. That's all it took for me to take the leap and get a 29er. So I have a Raleigh XXIX coming my way. So now I'm going to incorporate my running, cyclocross, Pilates and some early season marathon races to my schedule. Somewhere in between that we'll produce a magazine.
